Adlani is obsessed with trains, so last month I took him to two train-related events – Thomas Live on Stage and a train show at the Shriners Auditorium. He loved both. We had great seats for Thomas, and the train show had an amazing exhibit constructed completely of Legos. He also got to drive a train at the train show. .

The 50- to 60-year-old men playing with toy trains creeped me out a little…I can just see Adlani sleeping in the corner someday like this guy. Playing with trains is tiring.
—->

Here’s Adlani driving the train:

.

I’ve had an O magazine hanging around in the bathroom since last November because I liked Oprah’s Top 20 “What I Know For Sure” list. Here it is:

1) What you put out comes back all the time, no matter what.
2) You define your own life. Don’t let other people write your script.
3) Whatever someone did to you in the past has no power over the present. Only you give it power.
4) When peopls show you who they are, believe them the first time.
5) Worrying is wasted time. Use the same energy for doing something about whatever worries you.
6) What you believe has more power than what you dream or wish or hope for. You become what you believe.
7) If the only prayer you ever say is thank you, that will be enough.
8) The happiness you feel is in direct proportion to the love you give.
9) Failure is a signpost to turn you in another direction.
10) If you make a choice that goes against what everyone else thinks, the world will not fall apart.
11) Trust your instincts. Intuition doesn’t lie.
12) Love yourself and then learn to extend that love to others in every encounter.
13) Let passion drive your profession.
14) Find a way to get paid for doing what you love. Then every paycheck will be a bonus.
15) Love doesn’t hurt. It feels really good.
16) Every day brings a chance to start over.
17) Being a mother is the hardest job on earth. Women everywhere must declare it so.
18) Doubt means don’t. Don’t move. Don’t answer. Don’t rush forward.
19) When you don’t know what to do, get still. The answer will come.
20) “Trouble don’t last always.” (A line from a Negro spiritual, which calls to mind another favorite: This, too, shall pass.)
.

In a tragic accident over April vacation, all of Aliya’s classroom’s tadpoles expired, leaving a stinky brown soup of decomposing tadpoles in an inch of water. Oy. Aliya’s teacher cleaned the tank and gathered some tadpoles from each of the other classrooms, and asked me to help keep them alive. Oh the pressure!!!

This is what they looked like the first day I went in to clean the tank, armed with my internet research on the care and feeding of tadpoles. I need to take an updated photo because they are much bigger and happier now. None of them have sprouted anything yet…I thought I saw something one day but it was a hanging strand of poop. My procedure is to suck up the old food and poop off the bottom of the tank with my turkey baster, which I have permanently donated to the cause. Then I refill the water with tap water mixed with water conditioner to remove the chlorine. The school had been using distilled water, which apparently won’t support life because it has no minerals or ions. I also read that tadpoles need a rock so they can climb out of the water when they sprout legs, or they can drown from being forced to swim 24/7. Who knew? After a week of trying to get to the pond to find a suitable rock, I grabbed one from the yard and stuck it in Aliya’s backpack this morning. I hope it didn’t kill them off.

The sad thing is now that I’m fully committed to sustaining life and easing the little suckers’ way through metamorphosis, if they eventually turn into frogs they can’t be set free to go and frolic amongst the native pond inhabitants because they may be frogs that aren’t indigenous to Massachusetts. So now I need to research how to humanely kill them. WAAAAAHHHHHH!!!
.

I should post this photo as a little contest to see if anyone can guess what the heck you’re looking at. You should be able to tell by the spider veins and orange-peel texture that it’s my thigh, and I’ll give you a hint. It’s the reason I’m not getting my 5 hours of good sleep per night.

It’s a frickin’ footprint! Those are 5 little toes imprinted on my thigh! When I woke up early this morning I looked down and was momentarily flummoxed about the mystery marks, but that’s what they are. And not so shocking either, since I woke up (AGAIN!) with 3 kids in the bed. When will they stop liking me so much and become remote ornery pre-adolescents?! Go slam your door and crank up the tunes already! I’m old and uncool, and no fun in bed! GIT!!!
.